THE following presentation was originally intended to form
the closing chapter of a larger work on international law in this1
war. The latter is not to appear before the conclusion of peace.
The thought that the subject might perhaps be of special interest
during the war itself has led me to publish the following material
separately. But the larger work will present in greater detail the
explanations leading to many of the conclusions drawn in the
course of the following pages.

In accordance with its original character, this book offers only
a survey of the future problems of international law. In this
work I have given merely some directing outlines. I have been
obliged to forgo entering upon the individual problems here,
since this would have claimed materially more space and also
more time. But I also believe that in the present hour it is above
all necessary to call to mind once more the fundamental tendencies
in the development of international law.

The problems to be solved for international law in the future are
neither simple nor small in number. We may rejoice if, upon the
conclusion of peace, we succeed in obtaining an agreement on the
basic principles. The future work will, however, take decades.

Of course, I do not presume to be able to contribute much
to the solution of these problems in this small work. However,
I do not wish to leave unspoken the thoughts which have moved
me in the present fateful hour of international law. I hope
that some attention will gladly be given one who for a quarter
of a century has laboured among the champions of the advancement of international law, and who in his presentations is guided
by no other purpose than to win recognition and victory for law.

Whether the postulates here considered shall ever be fulfilled,
and, if so, when, I do not presume to judge. I for my part am
not enough of an optimist to believe that we shall attain everything,

Notes for this page

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.comPublication information:
Book title: The Development of International Law after the World War.
Contributors: Otfried Nippold - Author, Amos S. Hershey - Translator.
Publisher: The Clarendon Press.
Place of publication: Oxford.
Publication year: 1923.
Page number: ix.

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